Either you raise taxes or cut services to millions of Albertans. Or both. You can't make a balanced budget exist out of no where, although the Redford Conservatives have tried by calling their previous budget balanced by excluding capital funding. Skirting the fundamental problems with Alberta's governing party can only go so far and a part in government can only run around the issue for so long before reality hits.

A self-described "filmmaker" and "activist" has come out with a "subversive strategic voting video" urging Albertans to vote for any party that has the best chance of beating the Wildrose party. The actors in the spot are ever-so-hip, ever-so-diverse and ever-so-obnoxious. I suspect anyone who was on the fence before seeing this video will decide to vote Wildrose.

The Conservatives played up the idea of building more prisons and enacting tougher laws. The Tories did this because they knew full well that their right-wing "law and order" supporters would love it, but so would ordinary non-ideological voters who just want criminals thrown in jail. I call this ploy, the "Dirty Harry Gambit."